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Redacting Buddha: Sacred Scripture and Religious Identity in the Korean New Religious Movement of Wŏn Buddhism

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Redacting Buddha: Sacred Scripture and Religious Identity in the Korean New Religious Movement of Wŏn Buddhism UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Redacting Buddha: Sacred Scripture and Religious Identity in the Korean New Religious Movement of Wŏn Buddhism Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3g270822 Author Ranallo-Higgins, Frederick Michael Publication Date 2019 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Redacting Buddha: Sacred Scripture and Religious Identity in the Korean New Religious Movement of Wŏn Buddhism A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Asian Languages and Cultures by Frederick M. Ranallo-Higgins 2019 © Copyright by Frederick M. Ranallo-Higgins 2019 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Redacting Buddha: Sacred Scripture and Religious Identity in the Korean New Religious Movement of Wŏn Buddhism by Frederick M. Ranallo-Higgins Doctor of Philosophy in Asian Languages and Cultures University of California, Los Angeles, 2019 Professor Robert E. Buswell, Chair This study seeks to move academic discourse on Wŏn Buddhism beyond didactic introductions and official narratives. Delving into tensions between a complex constellation of text, redaction, narrative, belief, praxis, and personal experience, I explore the quick transformation of Pak Chungbin’s small Buddhadharma Research Society into the contemporary and international Wŏn Buddhist order. On an immediate level, this study reveals a disparity between text and praxis that emerges after the death of the charismatic founder. On a broader level, it reveals the concrete ways adherents in ii a nascent religious order immediately alter text and praxis to fit their desires and needs, despite the trajectory on which the charismatic founder set his order. The Introduction provides a thorough review of existing English literature on Wŏn Buddhism, discusses historiographic and methodologic concerns, deliberates on the source material, and reveals the need for more sustained and focused investigations of Wŏn Buddhism. Chapter One surveys official narratives around Pak and the founding of the order. It also investigates the divine status of Pak as the Maitreya Buddha, which followers claimed after his death. Chapter Two provides an accounting of the early texts of the order, examines the redaction of Pak’s Pulgyo chŏngjŏn, and locates Pak’s teaching firmly within broader East Asian Mahāyāna Buddhist worldviews and schemata. Chapter Three provides a much-needed outline and accounting of the community: types of membership, governance, education of ordinands, and the daily life of the ordained in a variety of settings. This chapter also provides a complete accounting of temple structure, rituals, and the performance of dharma meetings. Chapter Three closes with three important critical issues facing the community: self-autonomy of ordained members, gendered discrimination, and the invisibility of LGBT members. Throughout this study, I include an extensive personal ethnography, weaving in my own subjective experience with the Wŏn Buddhist community. iii The dissertation of Frederick M. Ranallo-Higgins is approved. John Duncan Timothy R. Tangherlini Burglind Jungmann Robert E. Buswell, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2019 iv Dedicated to devoted LGBT religious practitioners hiding in the shadows of all the world’s religions. v Table of Contents List of Figures ............................................................................................................................ viii Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 1 Review of Previous Scholarship ............................................................................................ 6 Historiography and Methodology ...................................................................................... 14 On Modernity ...................................................................................................................... 15 On New Religious Movements ......................................................................................... 30 On Methodology ................................................................................................................. 41 Source Materials ..................................................................................................................... 49 Personal Experience with Buddhism .................................................................................. 55 Chapter One: The New Buddha .............................................................................................. 67 Controlling the Narrative ..................................................................................................... 73 Contested Narratives ............................................................................................................. 91 The New Buddha ................................................................................................................. 176 Chapter Two: The Teaching ................................................................................................... 191 Reforms and Revivals .......................................................................................................... 194 Redacting Buddha ................................................................................................................ 201 Foundational Texts ........................................................................................................... 202 Pak’s Authorized Text ...................................................................................................... 208 Sudden Awakening-Gradual Cultivation ........................................................................ 253 vi Chapter Three: The Community ............................................................................................ 272 Membership .......................................................................................................................... 275 Governance ........................................................................................................................ 285 Postulants and Novices .................................................................................................... 287 The Ordained .................................................................................................................... 306 Temples, Rituals, and Dharma Meetings ......................................................................... 321 Additional Critical Issues ................................................................................................... 337 Autonomy of Ordained Members .................................................................................. 342 Sex Discrimination ............................................................................................................ 353 LGBT in Wŏn Buddhism ................................................................................................. 365 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 375 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................. 379 Primary Sources ................................................................................................................... 379 Secondary Sources ............................................................................................................... 381 vii List of Figures Figure 1 1943 Doctrinal Chart ................................................................................................ 220 Figure 2 1962 Doctrinal Chart ................................................................................................ 221 Figure 3 Official English Translation .................................................................................... 222 Figure 4 Sudden-Gradual Framework .................................................................................. 258 viii Frederick Michael Ranallo-Higgins Vita Education Columbia University in the City of New York Master of Arts, East Asian Studies Advisor: Jahyun Kim Haboush Won Institute of Graduate Studies Won Buddhist Studies and Training University of Colorado at Denver Bachelor of Arts, Art History and Religious Studies summa cum laude Metropolitan State University of Denver General Studies, Honors Program Sogang University (South Korea) Korean Language Education & Research Institute Graduate, Korean Language Studies Professional Won Institute of Graduate Studies Experience Assistant to the President and Senior Management 2017 – present University of California Los Angeles Teaching Fellow 2011 – 2016 Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University in the City of New York Administrative Assistant 2008 – 2010 Metropolitan State University of Denver Immigrant Student Tutor 2000 – 2003 Seminars & University of California Los Angeles Inaugural Graduate Conferences Conference on Religion Conference Coordinator 2014 Korean History & Culture Seminar for American Educators Korean Culture Center Los Angeles Lecturer 2014, 2015 ix University of Colorado at Denver Art History Symposium Assistant Coordinator 2005 Presented: “Nancy Grossman: Embracing the Shadow” Publications Yu Kilchun.
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